Final Fantasy VII director: remake won't be a direct upgrade

One of the biggest reveals of E3 2015 was the announcement that the legendary Final Fantasy VII is getting a remake, something long begged for by fans of the genre-defining RPG.

Hold your chocobos before getting too excited though; director Tetsuya Nomura has told WIRED.co.uk that the new version of the game won't be a direct recreation of the original game, released on the first PlayStation back in 1997. "In terms of taking a such an iconic game and giving it a fresh feel, we can't go into too much detail but we're not intending for this to become a one-to-one remake, or just the original Final Fantasy VII with better graphics," Nomura says.

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Yet the very fact that the classic version, directed by Yoshinori Kitase, is so beloved makes FFVII Remake a delicate balancing act. When scenes from the game -- arch-villain Sephiroth walking into the burning village of Nibelheim, the death of a pivotal party member, the escape from Midgar City to name just a few -- are etched in gamers' collective memory, the trick is in keeping those key moments in place while delivering something new for returning and first-time players alike.

"We don't want to interfere with what makes the original title so iconic," Nomura explains. "There are certain plot points we don't want to interfere with or disturb, nor will we want to change elements that fans have very big attachments to." "My goal with the remake is to make it apply to the current era, the current generation of players that are going to be coming into contact with or playing FFVII for the first time through this remake," Nomura continues. "I want to make it so it's relevant to the modern era, as well as having an element of surprise." "It has to be something that riles up this sense of wonder and amazement. I don't want to change it so much that it's unrecognisable, but make sure that it's something fresh and new [yet still] recognisable as FFVII. That's what I'll be keeping in mind as I work on this."

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While Nomura couldn't reveal details on any revamped mechanics for the game -- though more active combat seems likely, rather than turn based as in the original -- he did touch on some technological leaps, and the changes they may bring to the structure and pacing of Remake. "We're taking something that's text based with no voice over. If we add voice over to it, that will trigger some adjustments that need to be made to accomodate for that. Then, because we're making it in full HD, we'll need to think about all the resources that are needed to populate the screen. We'd need to go in and see what needs adjusting in that aspect. It's like a chain of events; 'OK, we're going to revamp this part, what do we need?', and see if there are any changes that creates. As I say, we can't go into the specifics at this point but we'll need to revisit elements within the game to see what is appropriate."

One thing Nomura would like to see happen as a result of FFVII Remake is for the term 'J-RPG' to be put to rest. "This term, 'J-RPG', I don't approve of it," he says. "I don't get why it's being referred to as such -- it almost feels like people are kind of making fun of RPGs that are coming out of Japan. I think 'well, how are they different to RPGs coming from other countries, what's the difference?' It feels very uncomfortable when people bring up the term JRPG."

While the Remake project has been in the works since "some point last year", there's still no date in mind for release, though it will land on PlayStation 4 first. And if Nomura's talk of changes has you worried, don't fret too much -- original writer Kazushige Nojima returns to pen any new story content, and Kitase remains attached as a producer.